Tailoring impedances of conductive traces in a circuit board

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method that permits signal traces of different widths and the same impedance to be placed on the same layer of a printed circuit board (PCB). Alternatively, signal traces of different impedances but the same width may be placed on the same layer of the PCB. Ground and power planes are paired on adjacent layers of the PCB with a portion of the power plane relative to the ground plane removed. Signal traces of the same width and different impedances or vice-versa can be placed on the same layer because each signal trace is referenced to different planes.

BACKGROUND

[0001] A circuit board, that may be a printed circuit board (PCB), includes many layers of conducting and nonconducting material. The PCB contains signal traces connecting the input and output pins of electronic components that may perform a particular function or set of functions. Examples of components that may be integrated within a PCB include memory devices, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and processing devices such as digital signal processors (DSPs). Each PCB may have one or more ground planes and power planes that connect to the electronic components.

[0002] In a PCB, electronic components are connected to each other through signal traces. In order to route in and out of the small pins of the electronic components, the signal traces may have to be of the same sufficiently narrow width. Some of the signal traces connecting electronic components may have to be of low impedance and low direct current (DC) resistance to carry high frequency and other types of signals. Because the impedance and resistance of a signal trace generally decreases with increasing trace width or, vice-versa, increases with decreasing trace width, the narrow width for routing generally makes the trace impedance and resistance high.

[0003] Signals being driven between the electronic components through the signal traces on the same layer of the PCB may be subject to detrimental impedance effects. One manifestation of these impedance effects is unwanted reflections due to impedance mismatches. The signals may also be prone to cross-talk and electromagnetic interference (EMI).

[0004] The impedance of a trace is also affected by the distance between the trace and adjacent conducting planes on layers above and below the trace. Thus, the conflicting requirements described for the two situations above suggest that for each situation the signal traces be routed on separate layers. However, the additional layers needed to provide route paths may increase the cost of a PCB.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005]FIG. 1 shows an example of a PCB with an array of signal traces;

[0006]FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of some of the layers of a multi-layer PCB in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

[0007]FIG. 3 shows the layers of conductive material in the multi-layer PCB of FIG. 2 with different trace widths and same impedance in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0008]FIG. 4 shows layers of conductive material of FIG. 2 with same trace widths and different impedances in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] Referring to FIG. 1, an example of an array of signal traces between first and second electronic components 70 and 72 is shown. In this example, the signal traces are 5 mil (a mil being equal to 1/1000 of an inch) in width while the distance x between adjacent signal traces may be large enough so that there are no contributions to a trace impedance from its adjacent traces. The signal traces connect electronic components 70 and 72 through input/output pins 60. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the signal traces are on the mounting layer 50 of the PCB; however, in other examples as described below with reference to FIG. 2, the signal traces may be sandwiched between adjacent layers of the PCB. Signal traces on a layer embedded between adjacent layers be coupled by input/output pins 60. A via travels vertically through the adjacent layers to connect to respective structures at its two ends.

[0010] Turning now to FIG. 2, some of the layers 210 of a sample multi-layer PCB are shown. These layers 210 typically include one or more signaling layers as well as a plurality of power and ground layers that, in some embodiments of the invention, are placed above and below the signaling layers. In some embodiments, the complete PCB may have a total of 6 to 20 layers with the top and bottom layers (not shown in FIG. 2) containing electronic components mounted on these layers. Layers containing conducting material such as copper may be sandwiched between nonconducting dielectric layers. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2, first layer 80 containing copper signal traces 91 and 92 and second layer 84 containing copper power plane 81 include a dielectric layer between them. The portion of the multi-layer PCB shown in FIG. 2 may also include a ground plane 88 on third layer 89, a fourth layer 82 containing power plane 83, and fifth layer 86 containing ground plane 90. Thus, the multilayer PCB may include a total of five copper layers and four dielectric layers (shown in FIG. 2) between the copper layers. In some implementations, the copper conductive material on the signal trace, power plane, and ground plane layers may be formed onto nonconducting materials such as a dielectric to create the signal traces, power plane and ground plane on each respective layer. Thus, for example as shown in FIG. 2, the whole top surface of third layer 89 may be formed with copper conducting materials to form ground plane 88. In a similar fashion, power plane 81 may be formed by depositing the whole top surface of second layer 84 with copper conductive material and then removing half of the copper to form a void.

[0011] Referring now to FIG. 3, the layers of FIG. 2 are shown. In FIG. 3, traces 91 and 92 have respective widths W2 and W1, with W2 greater than W1. The ground plane 88 extends substantially the whole width of third layer 89, while power plane 81 extends approximately half the width of second layer 84. In some embodiments of the invention, to provide a low impedance power plane, the power plane and ground plane may be combined into closely spaced pairs as shown in FIG. 3. Removing part of the power plane in each of the closely spaced pairs allows traces with the same impedance but different widths to be placed on the same routing layer 80. This is because, as mentioned above, the impedance of a trace is formed by the width of the trace and the thickness of the dielectric between the trace layers and a power/ground layer, determined by the distance between the trace and adjacent planes on layers above and below the trace. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3 for some embodiments of the invention, the impedance of signal trace 92 is determined by its width W1 and the dielectric thickness to the power planes 81 and 83. Each of the dielectric thicknesses between power planes 81 and 83 and the signal trace 92 is H1. The impedance of the signal trace 91 is determined by its width W2 and dielectric thicknesses to the ground planes 88 and 90. These thicknesses are each H2. Thus, even though signal trace 91 has a broader width than signal trace 92, the impedances of the signal traces 91 and 92 can be matched by varying dielectric thicknesses between the traces 91 and 92 and respective power/ground layers. For example, the impedance of each of the signal traces 91 and 92 can be set at 50 ohms.

[0012] Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, portions of the power planes 81 and 83 at regions above and below the signal trace 91 are removed to increase the effective dielectric thickness of the signal trace 91 to a power/ground plane.

[0013] Referring now to FIG. 4, layers of a PCB according to another embodiment are shown. The layers 80 includes signal traces 425 and 430, each having the same width. The layers also include a ground plane 415 extending substantially the width of third layer 89 and power plane 420 extending approximately half the width of second layer 84. Removing part of the power plane in each of the closely spaced power plane/ground plane pairs allows traces with the same width but different impedances to be placed on the same routing layer. This is because, as mentioned above, the impedance of a trace is formed by the width of the trace and the dielectric thickness between the trace and adjacent planes on layers above and below the trace. By varying the dielectric thicknesses between signal traces 425 and 430 and respective power/ground planes, the impedances of signal traces 425 and 430 are set to different values. For example, the signal trace 425 has an impedance of 70 ohms, while the signal trace 430 has an impedance of 50 ohms.

[0014] Again, portions of the power planes 420 and 435 in regions above and below the signal trace 425 are removed to increase the effective dielectric thickness between the signal trace 425 and power/ground planes. More generally, tailoring of the impedance of a signal trace is achieved by removing portions of a power or ground plane in regions that are vertically above and below the signal trace. This effectively creates an opening or void region in the power or ground plane. The opening in void region lacks the electrically conductive material (e.g., copper) making up the power or ground plane. The opening or void region is located vertically above or below the signal trace.

[0015] While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A multi-layer circuit board, comprising: a first layer, wherein said first layer includes at least two conductive traces of different widths and same impedance; and wherein said first layer is one layer in the multi-layer circuit board.
 2. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 1, further comprising: a second layer including a power plane; and a third layer including a ground plane.
 3. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 2, wherein the power plane and ground plane form a closely spaced pair, wherein a portion of one of the power and ground planes in one layer is not present that results in the traces having the same impedance.
 4. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 1, further comprising: a power or ground plane above or below the first layer, the power or ground plane having a void region that is proximate a first of the two conductive traces.
 5. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 4, wherein the power or ground plane is formed of a conductive material, and wherein the void region lacks the conductive material.
 6. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 5, wherein the void region is above or below the first of the two conductive traces.
 7. A multi-layer circuit board, comprising: a first layer, wherein said first layer includes at least two conductive traces of different impedances and same width; and wherein said first layer is one layer in the multi-layer circuit board.
 8. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 7, further comprising: a power or ground plane above or below the first layer, the power or ground plane having a void region that is proximate a first one of the two conductive traces.
 9. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 8, wherein the power or ground plane is formed of a conductive material, and wherein the void region lacks the conductive material.
 10. The multi-layer circuit board of claim 9, wherein the void region is above or below the first of the two conductive traces.
 11. A method, comprising: placing at least two conductive traces of different widths and same impedance on a first layer, wherein said first layer is one layer in a multi-layer circuit board.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: placing a power plane on a second layer; and placing a ground plane on a third layer.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising: removing a portion of one of the power and ground planes to form a void, said void resulting in the traces having the same impedance.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: creating a plurality of distances, each of said distances between one of the traces and a plane adjacent to the trace, wherein the distances result in the traces having the same impedance.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: placing a power plane on a fourth layer; placing a ground plane on a fifth layer; and removing a second portion of the fourth layer power plane to form a void, said void resulting in the traces having the same impedance.
 16. A method, comprising: placing at least two conductive traces of different impedances and same width on a first layer, wherein said first layer is one layer in a multi-layer circuit board.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: placing a power plane on a second layer; and placing a ground plane on a third layer.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising: removing a portion of one of the power and ground planes to form a void, said void resulting in the traces having different impedances.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: creating a plurality of distances, each of said distances between one of the traces and a plane adjacent to the trace, wherein the distances result in the traces having different impedances.
 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising: placing a power plane on a fourth layer; placing a ground plane on a fifth layer; and removing a second portion of the fourth layer power plane to form a void, said void resulting in the traces having different impedances. 